Locomotive stoker



Dec. 27, 1932 P. A. KETCHPEL 1,892,351 l LOCOMOTIVE STOKER Filed Aug. 4; 1928 s sneets-snee'@A 1 Dec. 27, 1932. P. A. KETCHPEL LOCOMOTIVE STOKER Filed Aug. 4. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. mw. hm

PM/11 4MM m ,S m mmm .mw

Dec- 27, l932- P. A. KETCHPEL LOCOMOTIVE STOKER 3 Sheets-Shet 3 Filed Aug. 4, 1928 INVENTOR Patented Dec. 2 7, 1932- UNITED lSTATES PATENT oFr-lcE PAUL. AIQKETCHPEI, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR. BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE STANDARD STOKER COMPANY, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE LOCOMOTIVE STOKER Application 'lled August 4, 1928. Serial No. 297,408.

through the lower part of the re door opening by screw conveyors.

One obj ect of this invention vis the provision of a compact stoker in a locomotive that takes up very little room in the locomotive cab.

Another object of the invention. is to posif tion the means for elevating the coal from the conveying unit to the fire door opening on an incline so that the coal will pass from the top end of the elevating conduit enclosing said means to the distributing device with less packing than occurs in stokers where thepath of tie coal changes its direction at an abrupt ang e.

Other objects and advantages of the inven-V tion will appear from the following description and appended claim, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken on the center line of a portion of alocomotive and tender, showing the invention as applied thereon, with parts in vertical section and some parts broken away.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the stoker, with the boiler back head in section at the fire door opening.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the tender and stoker trough, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2,

illustrating the sealing angle support and coal crusher.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of part of the tender and trough of the stoker, taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the fire box at the fire door opening, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, and illustrating the distributing apparatus.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2 illustrating the integrally cast gear case and engine body. .Y

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 5 with the distributing plate 8 removed illustrating how the upper end ot the elevating conduit is supported at the fire In Fig. 1 the numeral represents the troughl of the stoker which is` movably mounted in the tender and swings laterally when the engine and tender are rounding curves and crossing switches. Coal falls by gravity from the coal bunker -19 p into the trough 1, where a conveyor screw 2 moves it forward. The larger lumps are reduced to a size suitable for proper firing by the screw 2 forcing them against the crusher 3, described in detail hereafter.- Then the coal is conveyed forward from the Crusher to the end .of the conveyor screw 2 where itis transferred to an inclined screw 4, rotating in a sloping conduit* 5 which is ixed on the locomotive frame 6, and conveyed to the fire door opening 7 and deposited on a plate 8, from which it falls onto a jet table 9 having fluid jets 10 under pressure for distributing the fuel evenly to all parts of the fire bed.

The Stoker is driven by an engine 15 located in the tender of the locomotive and which is novel in construction. rIhe speed reducing gear box 16 is cast integral with the engine and has driving connect'ons 17 and-18 to the front and rear of the stoker. A flexible shaft extends forward from the connection 17 and drives the inclined screw 4 and a longer flexible shaft extends rearward and drives the conveyor screw 2, as described more in detail later. .i

The Stoker conveyor trough 1 is supported under the coal bunker 19 in a compartment or cut-out 20 in the tank as shownon Fig. 3, by the feet l21 resting on angle irons 22 which are secured to the side walls 23 of the tank cut-out. The feet 21 are made suiiciently long to hold the trough central bevertically, the feet 21 rock on the angle irons 22. Since the ball joint 24 holds the trough rigid to the unit on the locomotive Ywith respect .to end wise movement any var' ation 1n the distance between the locomotive and 4titi tender causes the trough feet 21 to slide back 'the trough 1. To prevent the leakage of coal from the sides of the trough, especially when the locomotive is on a curve and the center line of the trough 1 is not parallel with the center line of the tender, a sealing angle 34 is provided. The sealing angle 34 is supported by clips 35 riveted to the floor of the tender and spaced to allow ample freedom for the sealing angle to move laterally with the trough. Thus the coal is allowed to drop into the trough and be conveyed therethrough without any spilling.

As the coal usually supplied in the coal bunker 19 is of the run-of-mine grade, an im proved crusher is here shown in Figures 3 and 4.' As the coal falls into the trough 1 from the coal bunker 19 it is advanced forwardly against the-spool shaped Crusher 3 having teeth 38, and reduced to the proper size for eiiicient firing.

This crusher 3 is mounted rotatably in journals 39 extending inwardly from the side walls 40 of the conveyor trough. The shafts 45 are rigidly mounted in the hub of the crusher and turn freely in the journals 39. The crusher is of a cylindrcal type having its central section concaved to more nearly surround the conveying screw 2 which coo erates with it in crushing the coal. The perlphery of the crusher may be provided with spiral teeth as commonly found on cylindrical Crushers or may be provided with spike teeth or spurs as shown at 38.

In the operation of this combination of a cylindrical crusher 3 and the spiral screw 2 set at substantially right angles thereto, the coal is crushed with less power than required by a screw forcing the coal directly against a toothed plate commonly vused in stokers, because of the greater crushing force gained by the toggle effect which the crusher has, due to its rotating and crushing the medium size lumps of coal between its lower portion and the hub of the screw 2.

In other words, the coal being carried forward by the conveyor screw 2 presses against the rearlower portion of the crusher and,

as the coal is carried through, the Crusher is caused to rotate and thus break any excessive lumps of coal to a size most adaptable for' economic firing. Coal small enough to need no further breaking passes under the crusher about the hub of the screw, at the bottom of y the trough. In case of a clo due to iron or other foreign substances l ging between the screw 2 and the Crusher 3 its removal is facilitated by bein able to insert a bar in the holes 47 provi ed in the flange 48 at the side of the Crusher and rotate the crusher backwards.

The forward end of the screw 2 extends a short distance beyond the ball 49 on the forward end of the trough (Fig. l) and is slightly converging in diameter to allow lateral motion of the conveyor trough without binding the end of the screw in the casting 50 fixed on the locomotive frame 6. This screw 2 is purposely extended to deliver the coal from the Crusher to the inclined screw 4 without packing and undue abrasion. Such construction is advantageous because if the ball joint waspositioned closer. to the screw 4 it would necessitate lowering the gear case 56 which would in many locomotives interfere with the locomotive frame and make installations diilicult; p

The inclined screw 4 conveys the coal to the fire door opening and has provided at its lower end a double ilight51 to pick up the coal quickly and further prevent the coal from packing at 'the end4 of the conveyor screw. It is also provided with a double flight 52 at its upper end to give a uniform discharge at the outlet end of the elevator conduit. The screw is housed in a sloping conduit 5 as shown here comprising a base casting 50 supported on the locomotive frame and a casting 54 seating in the fire door frame, the two castings being connected by the tube 55. However, it should be understood that the Wholev conduit may be formed of a single casting if desired. The base casting has legs 60 y provided for bolting itrigidly to the locomotive frame 6. It is preferred to take care of the expansion of the boiler between the casting 54 and the fire door frame 62. In Fig. 5 and Fig. 7 the casting 54 is shown supported by the inward extensions 63 of thelow the coal to pass to th'e distributor plate with only a slight change in its direction. That is, a screw more nearly horizontal will require less forcing actionvto move the coal from the top of the conduit to the distributing plate 66, which naturally results in delivering the coal with little abrasion and pulverizing, keeping the stack'losses at a minimum and accomplishing one of the objects ofthis invention. In stokcrs where the coal is brought up lin a conduit substantially parallel with the back head there is considerable force required to deliver the con? to the distributor jets because the coal must be forced from the side of the screw instead of the end or forced around an elbow if the screw does not extend to the top. This causes excessive abrasion and a considerable quantity of fine coal is pulverized, which goes out of the locomotive stackimburned. In this stoker, it is possible to have the jets 10 positioned forward of the inside surface of the fire box backhead and be able to distribute the coal entirely by the action of the fluid jets 10 to all areas of the fire box, whereas others require the jets set rather close to the screw to preventpacking and must re coal to the rear areas of the lire box by the use of defiecting ribs mounted on the distributor vplate inside of the ire box.

The casting 54 and its cover 65 are so shapedv as to change the body of the coal from a circular to a rectangular cross section and provide an increasing area for the coal to move through without any packing. Such construction takes up very little of the fire goor opening and is desirable for cleaning the re.. f.

The distributor plate 66, consisting of the jet table 9 and the receiving portion 8, resting on the boiler in the lire door opening, is hooked under the casting 54 to hold it in place and is capable of beingremoved very easily. It will be noted that a space 67 exists below the distributor plate to allow the cold air to be drawn in by the locomotive draft to cool the plate and prevent its burning away.

The surface 8 is inclined downwardly as it extends into the fire box, allowing the force of gravity to assist in moving the coal to the jet table 9. As the coal is delivered to the portion 8 it falls upon the jet table 9 and is distributed by the jets 10 under pressure to all areas of the fire bed.

The jet table 9 is inclined upwardlytosecure more range with less power than would be required if the table were set horizontal. Thus the front portion of long fire boxes may be` lired with a very short jet plate.

As shown on Fig. 5 there 'are two cored passages 68 and 69 which communicate respectively with the steam pipes 70 and 71 and the jets 10. The cored passages are located at the sides of the distributor plate instead of beneath it to allow the plate to be set as low as possible. The pipes 70 and 71 are provided with valve connections, not

shown here, with which the fireman may varv the jet pressure and govern the ,amount of coal supplied to either side of the fire bed.

In Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 the means 'of driving -the stoker is clearly shown. The engine 15 is preferably located onthe tender and thereby accomplishes one of the objects of-this invention. The trend of the present day to equip the rear of the locomotive with locomotive boosters andv other like power devices to gain greater driving power makes it necessary to limit the weight and size of the stoker apparatus; therefore it is preferred to mount the driving unit on the tender as here shown.

As shown in Fig. 6, the body of the engine 15`is cast integral with the speed reducing gear case` 16.- Due to the small space available on either the locomotive or the tender, this is a feature that will allow many installations where a separate gear box and engine would be prohibitive because of its greater slze.

In Fig. 6, a cross section through the engine 15, and the gear case 16 illustrates the pistons 78 and the cross heads 79, the crankshaft 8O and the worm 81 and the worm wheel 82. The crank shaft 80 is mounted in the engine through the opening covered by the bearing 83 vafter which the connection rods 84 are assembled on the crank shaft;- access being gained through the opening closed by the crank case 85. The worm is splined on a continuation of the crank shaft turned down to press into the hub of the worm, and the worm wheel 82 is mounted in the gear case through the opening in the side wall closed by the gear case cover 86.

The worm wheel shaft 87 carries driving connections to the front and rear of the stoker. At the front, a flexible shaft is connected through universal joints to helical pinion shaft 88, journaled in a case below the casting 50 and carrying a pinion 89 which is mounted to mesh with a helical gear 90 keyed on an extension of the hub of the inclined screw 4. Y Thus an efficient and compact and lubricated means for driving the inclined screw is provided that does not in any wav interfere with the transfer of the coal from one screw to the other.

From 'the rear driving connection 18 of the gear case 16 a flexible shaft 95 is connected' through universal joints to a pinion shaft extending from the gear box 96 at the rear of the conveyor trough 1 and drives the conveying screw 2 through gearing provided in the gear box.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have invented a Stoker that is verv compact, simple and efficient in operation, composed of few moving parts, economical to manufacture, and one that can readily be installed upon locomotives.

I claim as my invention:

In combination, a furnace provided with a firebox having-an upstanding wall with a firing opening therein, a fuel bin for said furnace, a feed conduit extending between transfer section and elevator section being rigid with respect to one another at their junction, the upper forward end of the elevator section opening endwise directly into said lower portion of the firing opening, pr'essure fluidy distributing means arranged adjacent the lower portion of said liring opening to receive fuel from the upper end of said elevator sectionya screw conveyor in said transer section and a separate screw conveyor in said elevator section, the screw in said transfer section being driven from its end remote from the screw in said elevator section, which last named screw is driven from its lower end, and means for driving; the screw in said elevator section including ashaft fixed with the screw and extending downwardly and rearwardly through the bottom wall of the transfer section to a point exterior thereof.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature.

PAUL A. KETCHPEL. 

